Dry conditions and strong winds have contributed to several combine and field fires across the Midwest this harvest season.

Remember to clean and maintain your machines regularly because static electricity, which is generated as the combined moves through the field, can ignite the residue.  Use a pressure washer or a compressed air blowgun to thoroughly clean your machine.  Remove excess crop residue from rotating units.  Frequently blow leaves and chaff off the engine with compressed air or a portable leaf blower, and remove wrapped plant materials on or near bearings, belts or other moving parts.

Mark Hanna, Iowa State University Extension agricultural and biosystems engineer, offers additional tips to prevent combine fires:

• At the beginning of each day, check engine fluid levels (such as coolant and oil).
• Check the pressurized oil supply line to the turbocharger shaft for areas that may rub from wear and start an oil leak.
• Examine exhaust or hot bearing surfaces.  Repair leaking fuel or oil hoses, fittings, or metal lines immediately.

If a fire does occur, CALL 911 FIRST.  Then attempt to extinguish the fire by pulling the pin on the fire extinguisher and squeezing the handles together.  Aim the nozzle at the base of the fire and sweep from side to side.  Remember P.A.S.S., which stands for Pull, Aim, Squeeze, Sweep.  For more tips on how to avoid and handle a combine fire, click here for a related Farm Journal article.

Gusting winds, dry plant material and hot combines sparked several field fires last week throughout Latham Country.  A combine fire on Thursday caused fire to stretch two miles wide and 1 mile long near Kanawha in North Central Iowa.  As a result, law enforcement officials asked farmers to temporarily cease harvesting due to the elevated risk of fires.

Although harvest came to a temporary halt in some areas, great progress was made statewide over the last seven days.  Twelve percent of Iowa’s corn crop has been harvested, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service report on Oct. 3, which is ahead of the 10 percent five-year average.  Ninety-eight percent of Iowa’s soybean crop has turned color, but just 21 percent of the soybean crop has been harvested to date.

Select a territory in the map below to view a region’s most recent crop report, provided by Latham’s regional sales managers

Crisp, cool mornings remind us that fall is just around the corner.  The crop continues to move quickly towards maturity, and harvest will be in full swing across Latham Country in a couple of weeks.

According to a Sept. 6 crop report by the Iowa Department of Agriculture, 96% of the state’s corn crop has reached dough stage. Eighty-six percent of the corn is at or beyond the dent stage, and 14% of the corn crop is mature.

Time is of the essence!  Plan a successful harvest by scouting fields and evaluating standability.  Identify potential problem areas.  Note crop progress, as well as insect and disease pressure.  Pay particular attention to fields that were damaged by wind and hail, promoting stalk rot.

Stalk rot is caused by stress, including extreme heat and a lack of moisture.  Many acres were stressed this season, so standability could be an issue in several fields.  Note the severity and prioritize fields for harvest.  Implementing a strategy of “harvesting  the worst first” could really pay off this fall when you keep kernals off the ground and in your hopper.  You’ll want to get as many bushels as possible with corn at $7 or more!

For more information on how to detect stalk rot, watch my two-minute video and click here to read a related blog post.

Corn silage harvest is already underway and grain harvest will soon follow.  Are you ready for an early harvest?  Keep these three things in mind when putting together your harvest checklist:

1. Develop a plan. A good plan will outline in order of importance which fields to harvest first. The main consideration when contemplating your harvest order is focusing on fields exhibiting potential for Stalk Rot and subsequent Stalk Lodging. Secondary concerns include hybrid maturity, crop residue management and logistical concerns.

2. Get in your field. Once a harvest plan is developed, get out in your field and assess crop progress and identify potential problem areas. Being aware of crop progress and insect and disease pressure at all times is the best way to ensure maximum yield. If challenges do arise, you might have to harvest early. I am available to help in determining which fields may need to be harvested first. Please don’t hesitate to call!

3. Prepare equipment. Make sure you check machinery and conduct necessary maintenance prior to harvest. I have witnessed growers who, due to conditions like Stalk Rot, should have been harvesting a week earlier than they actually did.  They simply weren’t prepared for an earlier harvest, and as a result, they lost thousands of dollars worth of crops that could have been saved.

Latham sales reps routinely spend time in the cabs of combines each fall, checking out yields and getting feedback directly from our farmer-customers. This year I said, “Why should sales reps have all the fun?” and climbed aboard a few combines myself!  

Thanks to all the customers who let me ride along. I felt like a kid on Christmas morning every time I climbed into a cab and saw the yield monitor climb, mainly because I knew that every extra bushel pulled was extra revenue for our customers – and that’s what we’re all about at Latham.  But I’m not going to lie — seeing Latham hybrids out-yield our competitors by 20 bushels per acre or more didn’t hurt my feelings.

I was usually tweeting (sending out messages on Twitter) during my combine ride-alongs. Here’s just a sampling:

• Rode in the combine of another happy customer. His Latham corn went 10 bushels better than the competition, yielding 212 bu/A in c-on-c.  
• I rode in the combine w/ a customer Fri. whose Latham RR2Y Soybeans averaged 77 bu/acre. That’s the kind of whole-field average we like 2 c!  
• It’s 75 and beautiful and I’m on yet another farm visit for the day. I’m starting to feel a little bit guilty about calling this “work.”  
• Driving to work today, I shared the road with farm equip., school buses and livestock trailers. I’ll take that over a traffic jam any day.  
• It was the perfect day. Great customers and a lot of time in the combine. Okay and beating the competition by 20 bushels wasn’t bad either.

You can learn more about Twitter and sign up for a free account here. Follow us on Twitter at @LathamSeeds! If you already have a Twitter account, let us know your Twitter handle by commenting below and we’ll follow you!

Harvest is complete across Latham Country and what better way to wrap up the season than sharing the success of our customers? I always feel like harvest at Latham is a bit like Christmas: we eagerly wait results, but with the knowledge that no matter what the surprise will reveal, it’s going to be good. 

Today I’m excited to introduce two new Latham radio commercials that highlight customers’ yield results from this season. I was surprised by how much fun I had stepping into the recording booth to create these commercials, but I wasn’t surprised at how much fun it was to read the success stories of our customers and hear the enthusiasm with which they shared their incredible yield results.

Take a minute to listen if you can and please let us know what you think!

Jencks’ Harvest Report

Kevin’s Harvest Report

We’d love to hear how Latham corn hybrids and soybean brands performed in your field.  Feel free to comment below!

And now for the Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds Wrap-Up Show…

It feels like I’ve been giving a play-by-play account of growing conditions across Latham Country for the past six months.  We’ve covered everything from seed bed prep to SDS detection and fall harvest results.  Most farmers across our six-state marketing area are finishing fieldwork and, now that temperatures have dropped, are applying anhydrous.(http://www.iowaagriculture.gov/press/cropAndWeather.asp)

The time is also right to focus one’s attention on next year’s seed needs.  The following reports by Latham’s regional sales managers offer tips and insights on product performance in their areas.  To view yield results in your area, visit www.lathamseeds.com.

Northwest Iowa

With harvest complete and most field work and fertilizer applications done, the only thing left is anhydrous ammonia application in Northwest Iowa.  Applicators will be in full force this week as the weather continues to be favorable.  Now it’s time to turn your attention to next year’s seed needs.  Genuity® Roundup® Ready 2 Yield Soybeans jumped ahead of the pack, proving themselves as “the bean” to plant next year.  There are many different corn hybrid options to fit your farming operation with equaled success.  Latham® Hi‑Tech Hybrids with Genuity® VT3 TriplePro^TM provide an excellent package with late-season insect control.  Latham hybrids with Agrisure® 3000GT have come on strong as well, offering Ignite® as an option for weed control.  Visit www.lathamseeds.com to review yield data in your area.

Central Iowa

Bart Peterson says field work is nearly complete across North Central Iowa and anhydrous applications will be complete by the middle of next week.  Field work is about 50% done in West Central Iowa and farmers are just starting to apply anhydrous there.  Now is a great time to get your seed ordered for 2011.  Many Latham® products will be in demand, so order now while quantities are strong.  Below are Bart’s “top picks” for hybrid seed corn and soybeans in his territory.

North Central Iowa

• “Super Six Picks” on hybrid seed corn: Latham® LH5033 3000GT, LH5228 VT3, LH5376 VT3, LH5494 3000GT, LH5585 SS, and LH5877 VT3.
• “Super Six Picks” on soybeans: Latham® L2084R2, L2085R, L2182R2, L2285R, L2440R2, and L2658R.

West Central Iowa

• “Super Six Picks” on hybrid seed corn: Latham® LH5376 VT3, LH5896 VT3, LH5877 VT3Pro, LH6032 RR, LH6057 SS, and LH6167 VT3Pro.
• “Super Six Picks” on soybeans:  Latham® L2440R2, L2560R, L2658R, L2767R2, L2875R, and L3157R.

South Central Iowa

Harvest is pretty much complete in the northern and central parts of Travis Slusher’s area with some corn left to be harvested in the southern part.  The fall weather has provided many producers great conditions for fall tillage, along with a lot of tiling and terrace and waterway work being done.  Much of the fall fertilizer has been applied.  Farmers are beginning to apply NH3 as temperatures have dropped.

Central Iowa

Harvest, for the most part, is complete across Kevin Meyer’s area.  Producers have taken advantage of one of the nicest falls in recent memory by catching up with some items that didn’t get done a year ago. Now is a good time to study crop notes and finish building a crop plan for 2011.  Strong performance and a diverse line-up of Latham® products offer some great options for next year’s plan.

Wisconsin

A few soil samples are being pulled to see what nutrients will be needed for next year, and Wisconsin farmers are now applying fall fertilizer.  They’re also cleaning up the equipment used during harvest, says Steve Bailie.  Last week’s winds, reaching 50 miles per hour, caused problems for fields of corn that had not yet been harvested. Many growers who have corn remaining in their fields will have a few problems getting the corn fed into the heads of their combine.

South Dakota

Bill Eichacker says corn harvest in South Dakota should rap up this week.  Many farmers are completing field tillage and fertilizer application is going strong.